Databasus – Self-Hosted PostgreSQL Backup Tool

TL;DR

TL;DR: Databasus is an Apache 2.0-licensed, self-hosted backup tool for PostgreSQL with physical and logical backup support, point-in-time recovery, restore verification, and multi-database support including MySQL, MariaDB, and MongoDB.

Source and Accuracy Notes

⚠️ This section is MANDATORY. All links must be verified from actual source, not guessed.

• Project page: databasus.com
• Source repository: github.com/databasus/databasus
• License: Apache 2.0 (verified via LICENSE file on GitHub)
• HN launch thread: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46410656
• Source last checked: 2026-08-12 (commit main branch, pushed 2026-08-12)

What Is Databasus?

Databasus is a free, open-source, self-hosted backup tool for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, and MongoDB. It runs as a Docker container on your own infrastructure, keeping all backup data under your control.

The project launched on Hacker News in 2025 and has grown to over 7,800 GitHub stars. It is published under the Apache 2.0 license and is actively maintained.

Key differentiators from other backup tools:

• Restore verification: Databasus performs a real restore after each backup, spinning up a temporary database container to confirm the backup is usable — not just intact on disk.
• Physical backups for PostgreSQL: Uses PostgreSQL’s native incremental backup mechanism, keeping incremental backups small and fast.
• WAL streaming: Continuously captures the write-ahead log, enabling point-in-time recovery down to the second.
• Multi-database: Supports PostgreSQL 14–18 (physical and logical), MySQL 5.7–9 (logical), MariaDB 10–12 (logical), and MongoDB 4.2+ (logical).
• Multi-storage: S3, Cloudflare R2, Google Drive, NAS, Dropbox, SFTP, and more.
• AES-256-GCM encryption: Backup files are encrypted at rest; secrets are never exposed in logs.
• Workspaces and RBAC: Teams can manage access with viewer, member, admin, and owner roles.

Setup Workflow

Step 1: Quick Docker Run

The fastest way to get started:

docker run -d \
  --name databasus \
  -p 4005:4005 \
  -v ./databasus-data:/databasus-data \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  databasus/databasus:latest

Access the dashboard at http://localhost:4005.

Step 2: Docker Compose Setup

For production use, use Docker Compose:

services:
  databasus:
    container_name: databasus
    image: databasus/databasus:latest
    ports:
      - "4005:4005"
    volumes:
      - ./databasus-data:/databasus-data
    restart: unless-stopped
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "databasus", "healthcheck"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 60s

Start with:

docker compose up -d

Step 3: Kubernetes with Helm

For Kubernetes deployments, install from the OCI registry:

helm install databasus oci://ghcr.io/databasus/charts/databasus \
  -n databasus --create-namespace \
  --set service.type=LoadBalancer

For domain-based access with Ingress:

helm install databasus oci://ghcr.io/databasus/charts/databasus \
  -n databasus --create-namespace \
  --set ingress.enabled=true \
  --set ingress.hosts[0].host=backup.example.com

Step 4: Configure Your First Backup

1. Navigate to http://localhost:4005
2. Click “New Database” and select your database type (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, or MariaDB)
3. Enter connection credentials and test the connection
4. Choose a backup schedule: hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or cron
5. Select a storage destination (local, S3, R2, Google Drive, etc.)
6. Configure retention policy (time-based, count-based, or GFS)
7. Optionally enable restore verification and notifications
8. Save — Databasus validates settings and begins the schedule

Supported Databases

| Database | Versions | Physical Backup | Logical Backup | |---|---|---|---| | PostgreSQL | 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 | Yes | Yes | | MySQL | 5.7, 8.0, 8.4, 9 | No | Yes | | MariaDB | 10, 11, 12 | No | Yes | | MongoDB | 4.2+, 5, 6, 7, 8 | No | Yes |

Retention Policies

Databasus supports three retention strategies:

• Time period: Keep backups for a fixed duration (e.g., 7 days, 3 months, 1 year)
• Count: Keep a fixed number of the most recent backups (e.g., last 30)
• GFS (Grandfather-Father-Son): Layered retention with independent hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly cycles

You can also set per-backup and total storage size caps to control costs.

Security Features

• AES-256-GCM encryption for backup files at rest
• Zero-trust storage: Encrypted backups are safe to store on shared infrastructure like public S3 buckets
• Read-only backup user: Databasus uses a read-only database user by default and never stores credentials that can modify data
• Secrets never appear in logs or error messages

Notification Channels

Receive backup reports via:

• Email
• Telegram
• Slack
• Discord
• Microsoft Teams
• Mattermost
• Webhooks

You can configure failure-only alerts or full reports.

Practical Evaluation Checklist

• [ ] Docker container starts and dashboard is accessible on port 4005
• [ ] Successfully connects to a PostgreSQL database
• [ ] First backup completes and is stored in the configured destination
• [ ] Restore verification runs after backup and reports table row counts
• [ ] Scheduled backup fires at the expected time
• [ ] Notification arrives on configured channel on backup completion
• [ ] Retention policy correctly prunes old backups
• [ ] Encrypted backup files are not readable without the encryption key

FAQ

Q: Does Databasus support point-in-time recovery? A: Yes. For PostgreSQL, enabling WAL streaming captures the continuous write-ahead log, allowing you to restore to any point in time within the WAL retention window.

Q: How does restore verification work? A: After each backup, Databasus spins up a temporary database container, restores the backup into it, and checks the restored data size against the backup. It reports table row counts and sends the result via your configured notification channel.

Q: Can I use Databasus to back up to Cloudflare R2? A: Yes. R2 is supported as a storage destination, alongside S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, NAS, SFTP, and more.

Q: Is there a managed / SaaS version of Databasus? A: No. Databasus is purely self-hosted. You run it on your own infrastructure. There is no cloud-hosted offering.

Q: What happens if my backup storage fills up? A: You can configure per-backup and total storage size caps. When a limit is reached, Databasus respects the retention policy to prune old backups before creating new ones.

Conclusion

Databasus fills a real gap for teams running PostgreSQL in self-hosted environments: the gap between a raw pg_dump cron job and an expensive enterprise backup suite. Restore verification alone is worth the setup — it eliminates the class of failure where a backup appears to succeed but is actually corrupt.

With support for four database engines, multiple storage backends, encryption, RBAC, and a polished UI, it is a credible open-source alternative to tools like Barman, pgBackRest, or commercial products for teams that want full control of their backup infrastructure.

Set it up with Docker in under five minutes, or use the Helm chart for Kubernetes. The GitHub repo has over 7,800 stars and active releases.

Source and Accuracy Notes

• Project page: databasus.com
• Source repository: github.com/databasus/databasus
• License: Apache 2.0 (verified via GitHub LICENSE file)
• HN launch thread: news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46410656
• Source last checked: 2026-08-12 (commit main, pushed 2026-08-12T06:31:42Z)